MEMPHIS — The PGA Tour released its 2025 schedule on Wednesday with no real surprises — and every indication that the long-running circuit and the upstart Saudi-backed LIV Golf League will still be going their separate ways for some time.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said talks with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia are “complicated discussions” but that the sides continue to meet as they try to work out a deal for an investment with the commercial PGA Tour Enterprises.
“As it relates to times and timeframes and where we are, I’d just say that we’re in a good place with the conversations,” Monahan said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Asked if the release of the 2025 schedule suggested there would be no involvement with LIV through 2026 or 2027, Monahan replied: “That’s fair.”
The only real change in the schedule was putting the Memorial Tournament and the RBC Canadian Open back to where they were previously: the Memorial on May 29 through June 1, followed by the Canadian Open and then the U.S. Open.
In an effort to create space between the signature events this year, the Memorial was held the week before the U.S. Open — a week after Memorial Day — and tournament host Jack Nicklaus, the 18-time major champion, expressed his displeasure at the Memorial’s placement.
The 2025 season will begin on Jan. 2 in Hawaii, as usual, with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Maui’s Kapalua Resort. Without the Olympics on the calendar, the season will end Aug. 24 with the Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club to determine the FedEx Cup champion. The rest of the tournaments are in the same order as 2024.
The eight signature events now will have a minimum of 72 players. There were times this year the field dipped below 70 if there was a withdrawal.
LIV Golf League players such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm are only together with the best of the PGA Tour at the four majors — if eligible, a tougher task for them because the Official World Golf Ranking does not award points for LIV events. The LIV, which launched in the summer of 2022 and is closing in on the end of its third season, holds 54-hole events with no cuts and a team element added to the mix.
Rory McIlroy, who is on a transaction subcommittee that is negotiating with the PIF, said he hasn’t been on a call since the first week of June. He had referenced conference calls that occur on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but “players aren’t expected to hop on those.”
Patrick Cantlay, who is on the boards of both the PGA Tour and the for-profit PGA Tour Enterprises, noticed that chatter has “definitely quieted down.”
“There’s going to be ebbs and flows, depending on what kind of information comes out or what announcements,” he said. “But I know all of us are working incredibly hard all the time to get the best outcome.”
The only other changes to the PGA Tour’s 2025 schedule are some of the venues. The BMW Championship is the only postseason event that moves around, and it will return to Caves Valley near Baltimore next year.
The U.S. Open returns to Oakmont Country Club in the Pittsburgh suburbs for the first time since 2016. The PGA Championship will be at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, for the second time — the first was in 2017 — and the British Open goes to Royal Portrush, a quick turnaround for the links in Northern Ireland after it previously hosted in 2019.
The Truist Championship, formerly the Wells Fargo Championship, is moving from Quail Hollow next year because of the PGA Championship and will be held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club.